60 Seconds with Swett: Two Cheers for the SNF Rate Bump
CMS came out with its final skilled nursing facility payment rates for fiscal year 2024, and the sector will benefit from a 4.0% net increase, or approximately $1.4 billion, in Medicare Part A payments. That is up from the initially proposed 3.7% net increase and reflects a 6.4% net market basket update to the payment rates. There were a couple of negative adjustments that brought the net rate increase down, including a negative 2.3% decrease as a result of the second phase of the PDPM parity adjustment recalibration. That reduction came as no surprise, as PDPM was meant to be budget neutral and has been a net-benefit to many SNFs since the 2019 implementation. But to the SNF advocates... Read More »
Fairview/Sanford Health Merger Called Off
The merger between Fairview Health Services and Sanford Health was called off after Sanford announced on July 27 that it was discontinuing the process. The transaction would have led to the combination of two of the largest not-for-profit senior living operators in the country, Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society (whose parent organization is Sanford) and Ebenezer (which is a subsidiary of Fairview). Sanford owns more than 200 Good Samaritan locations, and Minnesota-based Fairview has more than 90 senior living locations managed by Ebenezer. The combined entity would have owned 58 hospitals, as well. Announced in late 2022, the merger was expected to be completed in March 2023,... Read More »
Newmark Hires Capital Markets Veteran
Nearly two months after Newmark lost David Fasano and Ross Sanders to Berkadia, the firm is building its team with the hire of capital markets debt and structured finance veteran Bill Fishel as executive vice chairman. Fishel will specialize in raising debt and equity capital for institutional-grade assets and developments across North America, with a focus on structured finance. He will report to Chad Lavender, president of capital markets for North America at Newmark. In his 14-year career, Fishel has executed over $15 billion in financing for a wide range of asset classes, including retail, office, multifamily, industrial, hospitality, single tenant, land and data center properties. He... Read More »
Grandbridge Hired to Sell CCRC
Grandbridge Real Estate Capital has been hired to sell a 329-unit CCRC in Port Washington, New York, on Long Island. The entrance-fee community opened in 2010 on 8.9 acres, and the current bankruptcy is its third, and hopefully, final Chapter 11 filing. It is a beautiful community that had bad timing, opening at the end of the Great Recession during a very weak housing market, restructuring its debt twice, and then had to face the pandemic. In 2019, average occupancy was 93%, but it dropped with the pandemic. The community has approximately 229 independent living units, 26 assisted living units, 18 memory care units and 56 skilled beds. In-place IL rents average $5,800 per month and the... Read More »
